"I have mixed feelings," Thibault said Tuesday. "I am excited for the team, but still somewhat apprehensive for the players. Many of our opponents [in the postseason] have a few more veterans than us, and because of that tend to play with more inspiration than we do at times.

"I'm sure all of my players understand the pace that is required to get through [the postseason]. They have seen what the path is to be good, but we aren't there yet."

Before leaving for the White House on Tuesday, where President Barack Obama welcomed them for winning the 2011 championship, the Minnesota Lynx helped the Sun clinch the East's top seed by beating Indiana on Monday.

Even though the Sun have two games remaining and the Fever three — beginning Wednesday at the Mohegan Sun Arena (7 p.m, CPTV Sports) — and the Sun's lead is only 2 ½ games over Indiana, the race is over based on the league's fourth tiebreaker. If the Sun lose their final two, and the Fever win their final three, the teams will finished tied in record (23-11), season series (2-2) and conference record (16-6).

The Sun will get the top seed based on the better record (3-3 vs. 1-5) against the teams in the league with winning records — Los Angeles, Minnesota and San Antonio.

With the first round, best-of-three series set to begin either Sept. 27 or 28 at the casino, Thibault has a bit of a problem as he prepares to chase his first championship.

The Sun have many injured players. Asjha Jones (Achilles) hasn't played since before the Olympic break. MVP candidate Tina Charles (sore groin) and Allie Hightower (wrist) have been nursing their injuries. And Sunday in Seattle, guard Danielle McCray sprained an MCL.

The injuries have prevented the Sun from staging many practices.

"Not enough healthy players and there is no sense gambling that you might make [injuries] worse," Thibault said.

So for the final two games, Thibault will carefully ration minutes. McCray will not play at all.

"I don't want us to lose any rhythm," he said. "I want us to play hard and be competitive. But I also want to cut down on minutes for Tina and Allie; those would be my top priorities right now.

"We'd still like to get Asjha into a game this week, even just for eight to10 minutes to get somewhat used to contact again. But I still don't know where we are at that."

Playoff Tickets On Sale

Sun playoff tickets go on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. Call 1-877-796-8499 or visit connecticutsun.com. Tickets are also available at the Mohegan Sun Arena box office or at Ticketmaster.com. Game dates and opponent will be determined by seeding at the end of the regular season. Game 1 will be at the casino either Sept. 27 or 28.